The Nexion-Project – Far Away review

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farawayIt is always interesting when an artist does something new, something quite different and original. The music of The Nexion Project is usually close to the style of Enigma or Mike Oldfield, but the album entitled Far Away is in most respects closer to smooth jazz in style. Or perhaps we should say lounge? But whatever we choose to call the style, the music speaks for itself. It is a downtempo collection of melodic and atmospheric tracks that will take the listener on a magnificent journey far away.

The Nexion Project is run by Hungarian artist Török Zoltán. We have previously reviewed some of his albums (see the reviews here) – and they have all become personal favorites (his Isle of Freedom is on this reviwer’s top 10 album list of all time). Bottom line: The Nexion Project has NewAgeMusic.nu’s seal of approval. It is quality music, pure and simple.

Before we move on, I would like to quote what the artist is saying about this album:

Over the last ten years I was trying to get my own musical style, but several albums has some a characteristic feeling, recognizable motives, harmonies, instrumentation from the performers, composers, bands what I like to listen. The idea of this revise process was born by my 2008 album, ‘Far Away’. Mostly it is a slow, melancholic, “smooth” music, where main instruments are classical guitar, cello and viola, and piano combined with light acoustic drums and other orchestral instruments with minimal electronic sounds. The purpose was to compose natural sounding as far as possible.

Torok Zoltan

This is the very essence of Far Away. I am amazed of the live sound of songs such as The Field (especially the violin part in the end) and Landscape(the sax). It reminds me of Mars Lasar’s more jazzy tracks, which also have a nice live sound (even though it is synth based music). A comparison to Mars Lasar here is actually very in place, since both artists have a solid grasp on the melodic construction. I might be tempted to use the word perfection.

But I must stress that this is not a smooth jazz album. Not at all.  Fans of The Nexion Project will be glad to hear that some of the songs here have the “good old” style that Torok Zoltan mentions above (I am thinking of the songs Daylight and Sidestreet).

Far Away is in all respects a great album; it offers something new to the project, while staying true to the original artistic expression. We all want to go far away sometimes, and this album might be your ticket.

Sample the album on CDBaby.